MAM
Effie Awards 2011 entries are now open
MUMBAI: The Ad Club Bombay has invited entries for the 2011 Effie India Awards. The last date for sending entries is 11 November, 2011.
The award acknowledges an agency for showcasing its power to build brands that lead to business, demonstrating the highest level of leadership in brand communication for the clients and most significantly celebrating effective advertising and marketing in India. While the International Effie Awards are hosted every year in New York, since 2001 The Ad Club Bombay has been the Asian partner that has helped to organise the Effies in India.
Incidentally Effies is the only award that is bestowed on both the client and agency to jointly share the celebration of their effective communication and perseverance.
Effie 2011 Committee chairperson Ajay Kakar said, “For over a decade, the Effies India has become the gold standard in measuring communication effectiveness for marketing excellence. This is reflected both in the quality and the number of entries which the awards have been attracting every year – a startling increase from 53 in 2001 to 276 in 2010. As integrated advertising and alternative media become important influences for most business categories, this year in addition to the existing categories some new ones have also been included, to give recognition to their importance and potential. This move, we believe, will further increase the popularity of these awards.”
The new categories included this year, in keeping with the international format are:
- Electronic Goods has been added as an additional sub category under Consumer Durables,
- Corporate Advertising is sub divided into Corporate Reputation & Social Cause,
- Internet & Mobile Advertising has been clubbed as Digital Advertising (Online / Mobile Communications)
- B2B Advertising, Rural Advertising & Regional Advertising have been introduced as three new categories.
Any company (client, creative agency, media agency, digital agency, etc.) can take the lead on entering Effie. But they should work with all relevant partner companies to submit the strongest case.
The award ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, 14 December at 6.30 pm at the Royal Western India Turf Club, Mahalakshmi, Mumbai.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
